No remains found in new Linden dig

LINDEN - FBI agents hand sifting soil that was pulled from an old Linden well in search of murder victims of killers Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog reported Monday reaching a depth of 40 feet.

The Record

LINDEN - FBI agents hand sifting soil that was pulled from an old Linden well in search of murder victims of killers Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog reported Monday reaching a depth of 40 feet.

Still, they have found no remains, FBI spokeswoman Gina Swankie said in a statement. Progress has been slow, with the agents and technical experts clearing from 5 to 7 feet each day.

Preparation work on the Flood Road well began Jan. 7, and hand digging began Jan. 17. Excavating the hard soil next to the old well with heavy equipment so that the team can hand dig the well has been a challenge, Swankie said.

This work comes one year after Shermantine, now on death row at San Quentin State Prison, led investigators to another well nearby where three women and a fetus were recovered.

Herzog committed suicide Jan. 17, 2012, after learning that Shermantine was helping investigators recover the murder victims near the two men's boyhood homes.